


(it's never as easy as) hello

by distractionpie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Notfic, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23235544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distractionpie/pseuds/distractionpie
Summary: The one where Armin and Jean might be soulmates but that would require them to communicate and they might front smart and cool but they're both stupid awkward goofs at heart.
Relationships: Armin Arlert/Jean Kirstein
Comments: 2
Kudos: 34





	(it's never as easy as) hello

**Author's Note:**

> This is a minimally tidied up copy-paste of a recent discord ramble about jearmin soulmates of the 'marked with the first words they say to you' flavour

in a world where everybody is marked with the first words their soulmate say to them:

for the purposes of my interpretation the words take a super specific interpretation of 'talking to'

so general statements and things said in group conversations don't count, the words reflect the first thing your soulmate says _specifically to you_

and here's the deal, Jean and Armin weren't close in training. there was nothing bad between them (except Eren) and they socialised often enough but only ever as part of the wider group

and it's not until the incident with the female titan that Armin finally hears the words 'you're fine, your hair's a little messed up but honestly it looks better than that bowlcut'

and um

what?????

because those are the words on his wrist, but they're coming from the mouth of Jean as he checks over armin's injury (move over Reiner, i'd forgotten your role in this scene until just now so you're being demoted)

and first of all, has there really never been a time in the past three years where Jean had spoken to him directly?

apparently so.

anyway, armin is freaking out internally but they kind of have bigger problems than the fact Jean is his soulmate, he can think about things like how badly Eren is going to take this after they all get out of here alive

and in the mean time armin just carefully avoids saying anything direct to jean, which shouldn't be as hard as it feels given that he's somehow managed to do exactly that for three years, but now he keeps wanting to talk to jean

and things play out as they do and armin keeps meaning to address the soulmate thing but they kind of have a lot going on right now and, well, he doesn't know how to bring it up. for most people it happens shortly have they meet, one person says the words and the other person reacts and there's nothing so deliberate about it

meanwhile, armin's out here knowing that the next thing he says to jean are going to be his words so he's got to make them good

if i were writing this as a fic this is the point where i'd go for a little contemplation about the whole predetermination elements of this trope and how armin is thinking about choosing his words correctly but if he's right in his conclusions than what he's going to say is already written on Jean's arm and has been decided for years

sometimes he's even tempted to sneak a peak at what Jean has under his sleeves, but that's like, the ultimate taboo for somebody who hasn't met their soulmate yet because then somebody could say their words on purpose to trick them. it's one thing to pre-plan good words but he can't cheat

so, armin, paralysed with overthinking

and then they're up against the armored titan again, and Jean is knocked from his horse

and Armin isn't thinking at all, he just needs Jean to stay with him

they're out of the battle before Armin even realises he's done, or at least he thinks he has, he's not sure about the precedent for saying the words to somebody who is unconscious

if it counts this situation has really only become more awkward because now he's going to have to explain to jean that he said the words and jean will have to trust him, also jean has lost the experience of hearing his words for the first time

jean comes around after the battle with hazy memories of hearing his words while he was fading in and out of consciousness but that doesn't make sense, there was nobody new with him, he's talked to all of his comrades before

but he's sure he heard them, and when he hears other people recounting the events and how Armin saved and protected him he realises that it's gotta be Armin who he heard

which, just like armin, he has to mentally go over all their interactions because have they really never talked directly before, they feel so much closer than that, which, oh, must be what having a soulmate feels like

and now jean is like, great this is awkward, how do i bring this up? but then the more he thinks on it the more he's certain that he has spoken directly to armin before, which means Armin knew

and jean's a hothead so that's enough to have him marching right up to armin and pulling up his sleeve, would be shockingly indecent if he's wrong but

"These words look familiar to you?"

and Armin knows he's caught

and he kind of stutters through an explanation, but Jean isn't really interested, he's annoyed Armin kept it from him but also he was in the exact same boat of not knowing how to bring it up before he realised so he does understand

what he wants is to see, because ever since he figured out he must have said armin's words he's been trying to work out what they were but he just hasn't been able to pin down when their first conversation was

and when armin undoes his cuff, all shaky fingers and Jean is so impatient he almost reaches out to help but that would reveal the unsteadiness of his own hands, it still takes Jean a moment to recognise the words and huh, that's somehow more and less recent than he expected

Armin is his soulmate, and seeing it like that it stops just being an abstract concept but something that he knows, he feels, he is

And then there’s lots of schmoopy kissing stuff but they’re promptly interrupted by Eren, who’s post-battle angst is abruptly derailed by the fact Armin and Jean are showing each other their words, what indecency is this, is he gonna have to protect his best friend’s honour, and the ensuing shock and chaos manages to derail events so far that we completely abandon the fact this is a canon-based au and they managed to all live happily ever after


End file.
